How Not to Fire a Rock Star
As a business leader, you’ll probably never have an employee trash a hotel room or start throwing punches when a call doesn’t go their way. But prima donna behavior isn’t limited to musicians and athletes. In the workplace, it’s usually less dramatic, but can be every bit as toxic. When high-performing but problematic employees aggressively dominate meetings or passively refuse to get on board with new initiatives, they undermine morale, stall growth, and set a bad example. Left unchecked, their talent is outweighed by their corrosive impact on company culture. Leaders need strategies to manage these behaviors.
What is Toxic Behavior?
I define as toxic anything that opposes company values or undermines organizational goals. It can be as clearcut as cheating in a sales contest and as subtle as a dismissive attitude. Salespeople who overpromise lob the grenade of disappointed customer expectations across the org chart onto the Customer Success team in violation of the organizational goal of serving the customer. Bullying, personal insults, dismissing others' ideas without consideration, gossiping, and finger-pointing defy the company value of respect and create an atmosphere of distrust and hostility.
How to Respond
To some extent, the obvious violations are the easiest to manage. People who repeatedly engage in illegal or unethical behavior that violates company values and undermines organizational goals should be fired. Even if the person is responsible for bringing in a significant portion of your revenue, it’s better to take a short-term hit in your numbers than allow them to destroy the company from within.
For the rest, it's important to have hard conversations the right way. Don’t catch the problematic employee in the hallway for a quick chat. Let them know in advance that you’d like to discuss something with them and set up a time to meet. You may well be feeling frustrated by this point, but don’t assume bad intent. They may be unaware of the toxicity of their behavior, unclear about expectations, or have underestimated the importance you place on it. Set out your expectations clearly. * Give a few specific examples of their toxic behavior. Tell them what you’d like to see them do differently going forward and make it clear that those changes are mandatory.
Often these difficult conversations are extremely effective, but some people just aren’t coachable. It’s easy for people with several years of success to start thinking they’ve got it all figured out. As I said in my book, The Learn-It-All Leader, early wins too easily lead to self-satisfaction, which all but inevitably leads to stagnation. When top performers become know-it-alls, they stop growing which slows the whole company down.
Of course, anytime a problem arises in an organization, a leader’s search for the source of the problem starts with a look in the mirror. Leaders who talk a good game but cut ethical corners may find themselves troubled by employees who do the same. If your sales manager dominates every meeting and never lets a team member get a word in edgewise, check your own conversational style. Model coachability, openness to change, and clear communication and although toxic behavior may not vanish from your organization, it’ll be less prevalent and easier to address earlier.
Strategies
- Set clear expectations for respectful conduct. Institute anti-bullying and harassment policies. Make and enforce the policy that toxic behaviors will not be tolerated.
- Address issues promptly and consistently. Meet with negative influencers privately first to provide feedback and explain what will happen if behaviors don’t improve. Be willing to enforce those consequences.
- Recognize people's hard work and reward good behavior. Call out employees who go above and beyond to support colleagues and company goals. Top performers get plenty of recognition, but too often the people who exemplify excellence that’s harder to quantify go unappreciated.
- Coach struggling team members on better ways to express concerns constructively. Teach them to disagree without being disagreeable.
With persistence and courage, leaders can transform toxic attitudes into healthy debate. This allows creativity and innovation to flourish, paving the way for business success.
The Rolling Stones famously thrived on bad boy antics and rabble-rousing, but employees whose toxic behavior and attitudes undermine company culture are no rock stars. With persistence and courage, leaders can transform toxic attitudes into healthy debate. This allows creativity and innovation to flourish, paving the way for business success.
*Research says 65% of employees want more and higher quality feedback and our experience at Learnit bears that out. Our course on giving and receiving feedback is one of the most popular.